GCRF - Building REearch Capacity for sustainable water and food security In drylands of sub-saharan Africa (BRECcIA)"

Abstract

The overall aim of this proposal is to develop research capacity and strengthen existing research capabilities in three sub-Saharan countries (Kenya, Malawi, and Ghana) in the related areas of water and food security. Climate variability has an enormous impact on livelihoods across much of SSA, where rain-fed agricultural production characterizes local subsistence and is the mainstay of most national economies. Coupled with rising demand from growing populations, urbanization, and rising incomes, climate change is projected to lead to cuts in GDP of up to 6%, setting the stage for migration and conflict. For these reasons, water security is considered one of the top global risks to development. Water security is also fundamental to attaining many of the Sustainable Development Goals, being a constraint on meeting a range of challenges including food security, access to clean water, and resilience to hydrological hazards. At the same time, attaining food security is a priority of national policy in SSA countries and is a key building block of development.

The reasons for insufficient progress in attaining water and food security are complex, but requires fine-scale, locally relevant research and solutions that are best developed and tested by local researchers and practitioners. Although capacity to carry out research in this area in SSA countries is variable, there are a number of fundamental gaps in the required skills and resources. To address these, our project will develop and implement a comprehensive and flexible programme of activities aimed at strengthening research capacity between the UK and SSA countries while addressing the grand challenges around water and food security. We will develop a pipeline of activities that is guided by a set of key research questions and implemented in the context of a collaborative network of researchers and practitioners that can sustain and propagate capacity and knowledge more broadly.

Our focus is on three countries in SSA: Kenya, Malawi, and Ghana. These are representative of different geographical, climate, socio-economic, cultural and institutional settings and challenges that will allow for comparative research and exchange of ideas, and the development of a richer collaborative network. These countries are also where we have complementary, ongoing university-level research projects and collaborations focused on various aspects of water/food security with institutions at different levels of capacity development. The programme of capacity building activities will be tailored to each institution and its goals through a process of co-evaluation of needs, co-development of activities and co-implementation, including south-south capacity building and knowledge exchange.

Planned Impact

BRECcIA will deliver impact through a programme of capacity development, capability enhancement, partnership building and targeted research in sustainable water and food security. It will engage with stakeholders, including community level, national and regional bodies. BRECcIA will target research to the most vulnerable ultimate beneficiaries living under the poverty line. Analysis of these vulnerabilities and risks will focus the research towards the needs of their arid and semi-arid land livelihoods and ecosystem services. It will also assess the governance and institutional support required to understand and integrate complex relationships into adaptation, planning and policy development.

We will carry out a stocktaking and gap analysis with project partners to identify specific requirements and opportunities across a wide group of individuals and institutions. We will directly reach researchers, managers and professional support staff in five academic institutions in three countries and in three regional centres, with programmes to extend this to a broader audience. A programme of capacity development includes research skills across disciplines, and cross-disciplinary and integrative research via research workshops, researcher exchanges, specific skills training, and summer schools. Capacity will be targeted from early career researchers to PI level. Capacity development will also address professional infrastructure through a research development framework that seeks to support individual researchers, institutional research strategy, management and support services. We aim to enhance transfer between organisations via UK-south capacity development activities and through south-south training and knowledge transfer.

Stakeholder organisations at sub-national, national, regional and international levels will be 'co-mapped' and their requirements and ability to make use of research outputs co-assessed within an inception stage during country-specific and regional workshops. National and regional workshops will be held to engage with key stakeholders, to understand the decision making process and to tailor research requirements and outputs to address key challenges. A Theory of Change will be agreed among the research collaborators and in consultation with stakeholders to resource/refine the programme of activities.

A Science Advisory Board will be convened to support research project selection, critical assessment of project outcomes, and monitoring. The project will capitalise on existing relationships with regional networks and intergovernmental organisations across water, agro-ecological and agricultural sectors with remits that match many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We will work with four regional / international Networks to provide a focus for regional transferability across water and agricultural research, and sustainable development challenges.

Project research outputs will be presented to industry via the British Science Festival and other Knowledge Transfer (KTN) events. We will draw from University of Southampton and other innovation and entrepreneurship resources to facilitate development and commercialization of technologies relevant to improving water and food security. An Industry Advisory Board will be appointed and we will carry out "Industry Workshops" to coincide with regional workshops in Africa.

Outreach and Dissemination will be achieved through a set of activities showcasing planned project developments and new partnerships and opportunities (particularly in the UK) to further develop and transfer knowledge created, and for stakeholders to provide feedback and context. We will provide a legacy of cross-disciplinary and cross-organisation capacity building which will provide a self-sustaining network of north-south researchers and a framework that enables international collaborative partnerships.

University of Southampton are the lead partner on the "GCRF - Building Research Capacity for sustainable water and food security In drylands of sub-Saharan Africa (BRECcIA) project and as such have developed the formal research collaboration agreement.

Collaborator Contribution

All partners have signed up the agreement which means that all the Parties will each use their reasonable endeavours to collaborate on the Project as described in tjhe proposal to GCRF. The Parties to the Collaboration Agreement shall be bound mutatis mutandis by the terms and conditions of the Contract from the Funding Body which forms part of this Collaboration Agreement.

Impact

None

Start Year

2018

Description

BRECcIA Research Collaboration Agreement

Organisation

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

Country

United Kingdom

Sector

Charity/Non Profit

PI Contribution

University of Southampton are the lead partner on the "GCRF - Building Research Capacity for sustainable water and food security In drylands of sub-Saharan Africa (BRECcIA) project and as such have developed the formal research collaboration agreement.

Collaborator Contribution

All partners have signed up the agreement which means that all the Parties will each use their reasonable endeavours to collaborate on the Project as described in tjhe proposal to GCRF. The Parties to the Collaboration Agreement shall be bound mutatis mutandis by the terms and conditions of the Contract from the Funding Body which forms part of this Collaboration Agreement.

Impact

None

Start Year

2018

Description

BRECcIA Research Collaboration Agreement

Organisation

Kenyatta University

Country

Kenya

Sector

Academic/University

PI Contribution

University of Southampton are the lead partner on the "GCRF - Building Research Capacity for sustainable water and food security In drylands of sub-Saharan Africa (BRECcIA) project and as such have developed the formal research collaboration agreement.

Collaborator Contribution

All partners have signed up the agreement which means that all the Parties will each use their reasonable endeavours to collaborate on the Project as described in tjhe proposal to GCRF. The Parties to the Collaboration Agreement shall be bound mutatis mutandis by the terms and conditions of the Contract from the Funding Body which forms part of this Collaboration Agreement.

Impact

None

Start Year

2018

Description

BRECcIA Research Collaboration Agreement

Organisation

King's College London

Country

United Kingdom

Sector

Academic/University

PI Contribution

University of Southampton are the lead partner on the "GCRF - Building Research Capacity for sustainable water and food security In drylands of sub-Saharan Africa (BRECcIA) project and as such have developed the formal research collaboration agreement.

Collaborator Contribution

All partners have signed up the agreement which means that all the Parties will each use their reasonable endeavours to collaborate on the Project as described in tjhe proposal to GCRF. The Parties to the Collaboration Agreement shall be bound mutatis mutandis by the terms and conditions of the Contract from the Funding Body which forms part of this Collaboration Agreement.

Impact

None

Start Year

2018

Description

BRECcIA Research Collaboration Agreement

Organisation

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology

PI Contribution

University of Southampton are the lead partner on the "GCRF - Building Research Capacity for sustainable water and food security In drylands of sub-Saharan Africa (BRECcIA) project and as such have developed the formal research collaboration agreement.

Collaborator Contribution

All partners have signed up the agreement which means that all the Parties will each use their reasonable endeavours to collaborate on the Project as described in tjhe proposal to GCRF. The Parties to the Collaboration Agreement shall be bound mutatis mutandis by the terms and conditions of the Contract from the Funding Body which forms part of this Collaboration Agreement.

Impact

None

Start Year

2018

Description

BRECcIA Research Collaboration Agreement

Organisation

Technical University of Kenya

PI Contribution

University of Southampton are the lead partner on the "GCRF - Building Research Capacity for sustainable water and food security In drylands of sub-Saharan Africa (BRECcIA) project and as such have developed the formal research collaboration agreement.

Collaborator Contribution

All partners have signed up the agreement which means that all the Parties will each use their reasonable endeavours to collaborate on the Project as described in tjhe proposal to GCRF. The Parties to the Collaboration Agreement shall be bound mutatis mutandis by the terms and conditions of the Contract from the Funding Body which forms part of this Collaboration Agreement.

Impact

None

Start Year

2018

Description

BRECcIA Research Collaboration Agreement

Organisation

University of Ghana

Country

Ghana

Sector

Academic/University

PI Contribution

University of Southampton are the lead partner on the "GCRF - Building Research Capacity for sustainable water and food security In drylands of sub-Saharan Africa (BRECcIA) project and as such have developed the formal research collaboration agreement.

Collaborator Contribution

All partners have signed up the agreement which means that all the Parties will each use their reasonable endeavours to collaborate on the Project as described in tjhe proposal to GCRF. The Parties to the Collaboration Agreement shall be bound mutatis mutandis by the terms and conditions of the Contract from the Funding Body which forms part of this Collaboration Agreement.

Impact

None

Start Year

2018

Description

BRECcIA Research Collaboration Agreement

Organisation

University of Nairobi

Country

Kenya

Sector

Academic/University

PI Contribution

University of Southampton are the lead partner on the "GCRF - Building Research Capacity for sustainable water and food security In drylands of sub-Saharan Africa (BRECcIA) project and as such have developed the formal research collaboration agreement.

Collaborator Contribution

All partners have signed up the agreement which means that all the Parties will each use their reasonable endeavours to collaborate on the Project as described in tjhe proposal to GCRF. The Parties to the Collaboration Agreement shall be bound mutatis mutandis by the terms and conditions of the Contract from the Funding Body which forms part of this Collaboration Agreement.

Impact

None

Start Year

2018

Description

Arid & Semi Arid Lands Stakeholder Forum (ASF), Kenya (July 2018)

Form Of Engagement Activity

A talk or presentation

Part Of Official Scheme?

No

Geographic Reach

National

Primary Audience

Policymakers/politicians

Results and Impact

Introduction of the BRECcIA project to the ASAL Stakeholder Forum in Kenya (Omar Mohammed) via the BRECcIA Research Meeting in Kisumu, Kneya (10-13 July 2018). The ASAL Stakeholder Forum (ASF) is a platform for all stakeholders working in Kenya's ASALs created through ASAL policy as part of ASAL transformation institution. ASF is designed to bring together Government, Academia, UN agencies, development partners, NGOs & the private sector, in a forum to enhance inclusivity & collaboration. The functions of ASF include Engagements amongst development actors to strengthen cross-sectoral & cross-agency coordination of development initiatives. They create greater synergy in interventions and sharing of experiences, with a view to optimizing use of resources for benefit of ASAL communities in Kenya.

BRECcIA and the ASAL Stakeholder Forum (ASF) will work together as a network to engage project stakeholders within Kenya.

Year(s) Of Engagement Activity

2018

Description

BRECcIA Interview for Kenyan NTV (July 2018)

Form Of Engagement Activity

A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview

Part Of Official Scheme?

No

Geographic Reach

National

Primary Audience

Media (as a channel to the public)

Results and Impact

NTV Kenya videos (News outlet) recorded a short interview with members of the BRECcIA team whilst we held our 2018 Annual Research Meeting in Kisumu, Kenya with the aim of disseminating the basis and introduction to the BRECcIA project on national TV news in Kenya. The clip was shown live on the NTV news on Sat 14 July 2018 and uploaded to YouTube on 22 July 2018. In one week it has had more than 500 views on Youtube.

There were a total of 20 Participants including LEAD Malawi's Board of Directors. Out of the 20 participants, 14 were members of the Core Stakeholder Working Group. These participants were drawn from academia, civil society, NGOs and government. These organisations were identified during the desk identification of stakeholders through regional meeting in the central and northern regions of Malawi. Their mandate is to work with LEAD and Chancellor College in the identification, analysis and mapping of primary and secondary stakeholders for the BRECcIA project in readiness for National Stakeholder Workshop to be held in the last quarter of 2018. The meeting coincided with LEAD Malawi Board of Directors meeting and the BoD members were invited to attend the introductory part of BRECcIA project. This is important so that the BoD should be fully aware of the project and be able to provided oversight in its course of implementation. It was agreed that one of tasks during national stakeholder workshop is to come up with dry-lands area backed up by data from government departments such as Department of Climate Change and Metrological Services (DCCMS) and Environmental Affairs Department among others. groups were given a task to analyse each stakeholder from the initial list of stakeholders. They were tasked to categorise the stakeholder, scale them in terms of coverage of their work, provide name of person and contact details. They were also supposed to explain the relevance of the stakeholder in the project, rate their interest in the project and influence over the project and its outcomes. Finally, the groups were supposed to identify an engagement strategy and communication approach for each stakeholder.

Year(s) Of Engagement Activity

2018

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